


Cause and Effect

by lasvegas_lights



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Motel California, Post 3x06, Pre-Slash, Stiles is jealous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-10
Updated: 2013-07-10
Packaged: 2017-12-18 09:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/878448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasvegas_lights/pseuds/lasvegas_lights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles goes to the loft after returning from the cancelled cross-country meet and after seeing something he wish he hadn't, Derek doesn't let him get away without finishing the conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cause and Effect

Stiles hates his life sometimes. Especially when there’s a crick in his neck from sleeping upright on a school bus, he’s still processing pulling his best friend back from the edge, there’s an alpha pack to deal with all whilst trying to keep his dad blissfully unaware of the situation.

He wants to be eating curly fries and finally introducing Scott to the genius that is Star Wars.

Instead he’s inside an elevator that looks like it’s one cable snap away from plummeting to the ground, to pick up a few items that smell of eau de Derek so his merry band of werewolves could search for him. He pulled the short straw…again.

The first thing he sees when he steps into the loft is Derek, faced down and splayed out in bed, the Egyptian cotton sheets covering the bare minimum of skin. He will deny until his last breath that the sight turns his mouth dry, his brain dead and his pants tight.

“Derek, are you-

Stiles’ head snaps left and his eyes widen. He prides himself on putting two and two together but right now Derek naked in bed and his English teacher emerging from the other room half-dressed was not making four.

She gulps visibly, clearly not expecting company. “Mr Stilinski,” She greets politely, her hand unconsciously fixing her top, protecting her modesty.

There’s a bitter taste in his mouth and a sudden heavy weight in his stomach that leaves him struggling for words.

 “What are you doing here?” She asks, the question finally rebooting Stiles’ brain. It leaves him angry, the tone in her voice making him feel like she belongs where he doesn’t.

“I could ask you the same of you, _Ms Blake,_ ” He retorts, then returns his attention to the unconscious alpha werewolf. “Hey!” He lifts the nearest object to hand, a coffee stained mug, and chucks it in Derek’s direction with as much force as he could in his lethargic state.

Of course Derek catches the flying object deftly, leaving Stiles to wonder if he was ever asleep. “What do you want Stiles?” He asks, grabbing a handful of the sheets to keep himself covered as he turns over and sits up.

“What do I want?” Stiles repeats incredulously. His eyes flicker from Derek to Jennifer then back to Jennifer. “World peace would be a nice start, my dad to stop eating burgers when I’m not there to supervise, to be able to go to a damn cross country meet without nearly losing my best friend _twice_ , want me to continue?” He ignores the eye roll he receives “Mostly I want you to give a damn about the people who give a damn about _you_ , people who thought you were dead, did you even think about letting them know otherwise?”

“Stiles-

“No,” Stiles cuts off any attempt at explanation “Don’t even try, nothing explains why _this_ was more important than _them,”_   He turns away, unable to look at either of them any longer “Let me know when you’ve figured out your priorities.”

Stiles wants to slam the door behind him but it’s heavy and unless you possess werewolf strength, takes a good hard jerk to close. He leaves it open, half to spite Derek and half to keep up the dramatics as he gets as far away as possible from Derek, his stupid loft and the faint smell of sex in the air.

On autopilot, he returns home, unsurprised to find an empty house. He sends quick texts to his friends, a simple: _Derek’s alive, call off the search_ , before crawling into bed fully clothed. He ignores the beeping of his phone as responses come in, he knows they will just have questions he doesn’t want to answer.

His eyes land on a familiar scrap of paper trapped underneath a glass of stale water on his nightstand. He slides it out carefully, grabs a pen from the shelf and adds an eleventh name to the list before succumbing to sleep.

The first thing his eyes focus on is his alarm clock, letting him know he’s caught up on five hours sleep.

“What’s this?”

 “Oh my god,” Stiles jerks up and backs up against the headboard, looking about as graceful as a deer on a frozen lake. Of course Derek would be sitting in his computer chair, glaring daggers at him, Stiles expected nothing less from the creeper.  “Two questions, one, are you trying to give me a heart attack? And two, how long have you been sitting there exactly.”

Derek ignores the questions directed at him and raises a piece of paper, held up between two fingers. Even half-awake Stiles recognises what it is.

“Tell me Stiles, did you add Jennifer’s name before or after you caught us together at the loft?”

 “What does it matter?” Stiles shrugs, suddenly feeling hot under the covers and tossing them to one side.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, you know.”

Stiles snorts, “I’ve got nothing to be jealous about, remember?”

It’s not like Stiles means anything to Derek, he made that pretty clear after working together during the summer to find Erica and Boyd. For a short few months, Stiles had felt his heart beat too fast when Derek was leaning over his shoulder or sitting side by side. He knows Derek heard it, probably would have felt it had he pressed in a little closer.  

Nothing happened between them and then school started back up and he was suddenly of no use to Derek anymore. The Alpha had acted like they’d barely spoken in months, leaving Stiles to feel like a foolish boy, hoping for something, even briefly, for something that was never going to happen. He’d clearly been kidding himself, seeing something that wasn’t there. Why would Derek ever want Stiles when he could have Miss Jennifer Blake?

“Lydia ’s name is also on that list by the way, Cora’s too, and yours…twice,” The intense scrutiny from the brooding werewolf leaves him thirsty and he gulps down the stale water quickly before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The room is darker now than it was ten minutes ago as the light starts to fade outside. Stiles switches on the nightstand lamp and finally climbs off the bed to close the blinds. “Your wolves spent last night in a hallucinogenic nightmare thanks to the coach and his wolfsbane laced whistle, how about you come up with some suggestions as to who else had access to the teachers’ lounge to do that.”

“Stop,” The list is crumpled up in Derek’s tight fist.

“Why do you care so much what I think?” Stiles asks, folding his arms tightly across his chest. The longer he spends with the Derek, the more the older man infuriates him. “I’m just a teenage boy, a human, what could I possibly contribute?”

The answer s go unspoken which leaves Stiles wincing. There’s no-one here to convince him he’s worth more than that, Derek certainly doesn’t try.

In a moment of stupidity or courage, Stiles’ feet pull him forward until he’s standing over Derek, almost standing in between his legs. “There was a time you know when you would have come to me. Maybe I was delusional to think you actually trusted me,”

Derek’s head snaps up, their eyes meeting “I do.”

“Do you trust her?” Derek doesn’t answer,  “I don’t know what I’m doing Derek,” Stiles admits softly, “I’m doing my best…trying to keep your ragtag band of misfits alive and work out who’s killing these people before another person I care about dies,” His eyes sting, “I have to be strong for everyone…all the time.”

“Stiles…”

The fleeting touch of Derek’s hand against his snaps Stiles out of the dark headspace he rarely let himself delve into. He stumbles back, takes in a couple of deep breaths and attempts to calm his racing heart. He hates how transparent he is to Derek with a simple thump thump in his chest. “You should go, go find your pack, your sister, _whoever,_ ”

Derek nods and finally pulls himself to his feet. In the doorway he stops and turns back. “I’m sorry you found out like that.”

“I know.”

“You don’t have to be strong for me, you know… I could be that for you, if you wanted.”

_No you can’t,_ Stiles wants to say, 

“I know.”

_Not now._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> It's a bit of a sad ending I know, I might do a sequel with a happier ending if enough people want to see it! If you liked it, please come say hello on tumblr: www.lasvegas-lights.tumblr.com/


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